Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='491104' date='Nov 7 2007, 01:06 AM

The BMW VDC (Vehicle Distribution Center) at Oxnard (Port Hueneme) is the first place where all west coast BMW's Minis and Rolls Royces go to after being unloaded from the ships (or trains for the US built BMW's). First they wash the protective cosmoline off the cars (other than the X5's which come packed in a plastic bag with zippers), then they load the latest version of Progman (CIP) if a new one was released after the car left the factory, then they inspect the cars for body damage and repair if necessary. They have a full body shop and mechanic shop there. At the end they put the owner's manuals and floor mats in the car, and print and stick the window sticker on the window. They then drive it out and park it in the lot where they wait to be loaded onto the transport trucks that take them to the dealers.

The VDC in California serves all of the Western US, Alaska and Hawaii........so all cars going to those destinations must pass through there first.

The VDC is not open to the public, but once every couple of years BMW Club of LA arranges a Saturday tour for it's members who wish to attend. The VDC is not usually open on Saturdays, but they open and have a limited crew there just to demonstrate to us how things work there. This was my second visit there and although it does not come close to visiting a BMW factory, it is still interesting.

Originally Posted by Alex.br' post='494405' date='Nov 14 2007, 04:07 PM

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

Is the painting job to recovery freight damages?

Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='494452' date='Nov 14 2007, 07:30 PM

NICE! Wow they have A LOT more cars on the lot this year... what happened? VDC back up? hahaha HUmmm Can I have one of those white covered cars that have the RR written on the cover?

Wow look at all those MINIs... I miss them... I like the 1st generation MINI Sooooooooooooooooooo much more than the current one... current one looks odd to me... one of the few few few cars where I prefer an older style over the newer one...

So why were there so many MINIs? I cant believe ALL those MINI owners were BMW CCA members... i thought this was a BMW CCA event... or did they merge a SCMM event with a BMW CCA event?

Originally Posted by rodybmw' post='494522' date='Nov 14 2007, 11:56 PM

I guess it was a joint event with the MINI Maniacs of Los Angeles. They may even be affiliated with each other as our name tags had the BMW Club of LA insignia at the top and the MINI Maniacs one at the bottom.

I think those MINI's must have gotten there WAY early because they had taken over all but a handful of the parking spots while all the BMW's were parked on the street.

Originally Posted by EBMCS03' post='495416' date='Nov 16 2007, 05:32 PM

Ya thats SCMM... southern California MINI Maniacs... and ya... those MINI owners are nuts... they would do that kind of thing... go early and snatch up all the spaces... I know... I use to do that with them.